The problem with Kashmiri and South Indian silk, unlike Chinese raw silk (or woolen) carpets is that the pile does not bounce back once someone walks on the carpet; this causes the carpet to become hard and matted after a few years. There is clearly a price difference in qualities, not only in raw material costs but also in spinning and weaving charges, as the Chinese silk requires more skilled craftsmen. All the 3 qualities are made out of handspun silk and are manufactured in Kashmir (North India).

Among silk carpets, the carpet can have a silk foundation or a cotton foundation.

Silk has a finer micron (thinness of fibre) and is considered to be finer leading to finer knots per square inch compared to cotton. However, having a cotton foundation makes the carpets more durable.

Some unscrupulous traders also sometimes cut off the cotton fringes (tassles) and add silk ones instead and pass off silk-on-cotton foundation carpets as silk-on-silk foundation. The price difference between the two can be more than double.

The knot counts of silk-on-cotton ranges from 300 knots to 500 knots per square inch.

The knots in silk-on-silk range from 400 knots and can reach as high as 2000 knots per sq inch.

The silk carpets we are selling at The Carpet Cellar are generally between 600 to 1400 knots which are extremely hard to find.